บททั้งหมดของ The Alpha's Hidden Heir: บทที่ 121 - บทที่ 130

Owen begins helping the next morning with a rule Dean insists on before anyone opens a file.“If something feels familiar, say it,” Dean tells him. “If you are guessing, say that too. Memory is useful only if we know which parts you are sure about.”Owen gives him a dry look from the study table. “Rachel already gave Finn the trauma-memory lecture.”“And now I’m giving you the shorter version.”Finn sits beside his brother with a cup of tea between his hands. He has agreed to remain in the room without hovering, though he is beginning to understand how difficult that promise is.Rachel places several printed pages from the Lawson placement program on the table.“You said yesterday that you wanted to help. We are starting with something you actually experienced.”Owen’s expression changes.For weeks, people have asked whether he is frightened, hungry, injured, bored, or safe. Nobody has asked what he knows.“What do you need?”“Your placement interview,” Rachel says. “Everything you re

Finn avoids the study for the rest of the afternoon.He tells himself he wants quiet.That is partly true.The real reason is that Rachel’s explanation has left something raw inside him, and Everett is the person most closely tied to every part of it.The engagement.The contract.The baby.The danger.The possibility that the only thing standing between Finn and a Lawson legal attack is the fact that Everett has not yet publicly ended the relationship Finn hates.There is something especially cruel about needing the very arrangement that humiliates him.Finn sits alone in the nursery with the window cracked open enough to let cool air into the room. The walls are soft green now. Owen’s old rabbit rests in the corner of the secondhand chair, and Everett’s carved wooden wolf sits on the shelf beside it.Finn looks at the two toys together.That small arrangement has begun to feel dangerously close to hope.He hates how much that frightens him.A quiet knock comes at the open door.Finn

The clean phone rings at 10:16 in the morning.Finn is in the smaller study with Rachel, going through the notes from Owen’s placement interview, when the screen lights up with a private number.Both of them stop.Rachel looks at the phone.Finn looks at her.“Do I answer?”“Not yet.”The ringing continues.Rachel reaches for her laptop and opens the secure recording program they installed after Vera’s second visit.“Put it on speaker. Say as little as possible at first.”Finn’s pulse begins to climb.He already knows this will not be good.Nobody who contacts the clean phone does so to ask how he is feeling.Rachel gives him a small nod.Finn answers.“Hello?”For a moment, there is only silence.Then a woman speaks.“Finn.”The voice is warm.Cultivated.Almost maternal.Finn recognizes it from charity interviews and society clips.Caroline Lawson.His fingers tighten around the phone.Rachel immediately starts recording.“Mrs. Lawson.”“Thank you for answering.”Finn glances at Rac

The alarm begins at 2:13 in the morning.Finn wakes to a low electronic pulse from somewhere beyond the bedroom walls, followed almost immediately by footsteps in the corridor.His body reacts before his mind catches up.He sits upright, one hand already over his stomach.The bond pulls tight beneath his ribs.For several seconds, he only listens.Boots.A radio.A door opening somewhere downstairs.Then Dean’s voice, controlled but urgent.Finn is out of bed before he fully realizes what he is doing.He opens the bedroom door.Everett is already in the hallway.He is barefoot, wearing dark trousers and a black shirt he has not finished buttoning. His expression is so cold that Finn understands immediately this is not a false alarm.“What happened?”Everett looks at him.“Outer perimeter breach.”Finn’s pulse jumps.“Where?”“East side.”“Is someone inside?”“We don’t know yet.”That answer is enough to make fear rush through him.Owen’s door opens behind Finn.“What’s going on?”Ever

Dr. Bishop does not let anyone touch the encrypted drive until Rachel brings in a separate laptop.The device never connects to the estate network.Dean checks the room twice, confirms that no wireless systems are active nearby, and closes the study doors before Rachel inserts the drive.Finn watches from the sofa.His heartbeat has been too fast since Dr. Bishop said the words toxicology profile.He had spent months knowing he was drugged.Knowing is different from seeing it written by a doctor.Rachel enters the protection code Dr. Bishop gives her.A password field appears.Dr. Bishop types the second authorization herself.The screen opens.Finn sees his false clinic name first.ELLIOT GRAYBeneath it are dates, laboratory references, test values, and medical terms he barely understands.Then Dr. Bishop scrolls.“Here.”Rachel leans closer.Everett remains on the other side of the room.Finn notices that he has not approached the laptop.He knows why.This is Finn’s medical record